Chapter 28: Ancestral Legacy, Part One

Zhang Sheng sat with the Daoist in the small courtyard, while Xiang Weiyuan stood behind him, listening.

The Daoist stroked his beard and said, “This session’s centralized instruction comprises seven courses, one per day, each lasting half a day. The titles and contents of these courses are all here.”

Zhang Sheng took the jade tablet the Daoist handed him, glanced at it, and saw seven entries: “Human History,” “Tang History,” “General Knowledge of the Immortal Path,” “Foundations of the Dao,” “Cosmic Theory,” “Qi and Fortune Theory,” and “Art Theory,” each with detailed explanations. Zhang Sheng was naturally familiar with these topics, and after a pause, he asked, “Why place such emphasis on history in these courses?”

The Daoist replied, “Zhenjun Yan Shi said that understanding antiquity allows one to comprehend the present; history is a mirror through which we discern rise and fall. Our people rose from humble origins; our ancestors endured hardship and countless trials to reach today’s state—we must never forget their aspirations.”

Zhang Sheng nodded. “The Ancient Knowledge Faction must be delighted—otherwise they wouldn’t have so readily approved this proposal.”

The Daoist said, “Zhenjun Yan Xing indeed exerted great effort to implement centralized instruction. If your disciple wishes to enroll, he must first register and pay the full course fee.”

“There’s a course fee?”

“Ten immortal silver taels per course. Pay for seven rounds upfront—four hundred and ninety immortal silver taels total. Additional resources required for cultivation during the courses are extra.”

Zhang Sheng was startled: “So expensive?”

The Daoist said, “The instructors must be supported, and the resources consumed during instruction must be accounted for. When each hall trained disciples individually, many expenses went unnoticed. Now that instruction is centralized, all costs are tallied—and naturally, they seem high.”

The logic made sense, but Zhang Sheng calculated his savings and his expression grew uneasy.

After achieving Foundation Establishment and descending the mountain, Zhang Sheng vanished for seven years with no contact, contributing nothing to the sect—by rule, he received no monthly silver. Upon returning, he was fined three years’ stipend, leaving him with zero income for ten years. In his earlier days, he cultivated rapidly and consumed vast resources; even though most came from Tianqing Hall, he had saved nothing.

Now, tallying his assets, he realized his savings barely covered three months’ basic course fees for Wei Yuan—and that didn’t include the cultivation resources needed for the actual training, which the Daoist had explicitly said were extra!

Zhang Sheng hesitated, then asked, “Is there… any discount on the course fee?”

Seeing the Daoist hesitate, Zhang Sheng’s face flushed, and he quickly added, “If not, it’s fine.”

The Daoist sighed. “I won’t hide it, younger brother—some disciples do receive discounts. For instance, disciples of Zhenjun Yan Xing and Zhenjun Feng Yuanzhen pay only seventy percent.”

These two Zhenjuns were leaders of the New Wave Faction; they had pushed for centralized instruction, and most instructors were drawn from their ranks. Giving their own disciples discounts was perfectly reasonable.

But seeing the Daoist’s hesitation, Zhang Sheng sensed something was off and pressed: “What else?”

The Daoist finally said, “The reason this centralized instruction proposal succeeded was due to several Zhenjuns of the Ancient Knowledge Faction. Their approval made this possible. Since the Ancient Knowledge Faction has so many disciples, the two Zhenjuns specially decreed that if an Ancient Knowledge Faction disciple enrolls, the course fee is halved—and so too for resource consumption.”

Zhang Sheng’s face darkened. He slammed his hand on the table and rose: “Half for Ancient Knowledge, seventy percent for New Wave—what about Tianqing Hall?”

The Daoist’s gaze flickered away. “Your hall has three disciples this session—they are not on the discount list.”

Zhang Sheng exploded: “Over a hundred disciples this session, and only Tianqing Hall’s must pay full price? This is outrageous! Such injustice cannot be tolerated! I’m going to confront the administrator!”

At the word “confront,” the Daoist could only smile bitterly. “Younger brother, you don’t know—these past few years, the Ancient Knowledge and New Wave factions have clashed fiercely. Only Tianqing Hall remained neutral, having ‘confronted’ both sides. Though your disputes were unrelated to their rivalry, you’ve inadvertently ruined many of their plans and earned deep enmity. To be blunt, the New Wave Faction hasn’t even doubled your course fee—that’s already generous.”

Zhang Sheng refused to accept it. He sneered: “I understand now. The New Wave Faction doesn’t want Tianqing Hall disciples to join centralized instruction. Fine. I’ll teach him myself! Hmph—those aristocratic families all have secret methods to awaken talent, claiming their children are prodigies. Yet in the end, it was Wei Yuan who took first place!”

The Daoist glanced at Wei Yuan. “Your disciple is indeed a rare genius, unmatched by others. Oh—you’ve decided to teach him yourself, correct? I’ll go report that…”

“Wait!” Zhang Sheng reacted instantly, grabbing the Daoist’s arm. “Show me the list of instructors!”

The Daoist sighed and pulled out another jade tablet.

Zhang Sheng took it and immediately understood: the first page listed two instructors he had personally “confronted”—clearly personal enemies. The other senior Daoists were respected and learned, but to Zhang Sheng, they were merely competent—no deep admiration, no connection. Then he turned to the second page—and his expression changed.

“Feng Chutang? He’s teaching now?”

The Daoist said, “It was Zhenjun Feng Yuan’s decision—he wants him to contribute to the palace’s cause. The Zhenjun said, ‘To transmit the Dao, instruct, and resolve doubts is not only to resolve the disciples’ confusion, but also one’s own.’ I heard your relationship with Brother Feng was… strained.”

The Daoist spoke gently, but in truth, Zhang Sheng and Feng Chutang’s relationship had been far worse than strained—it had nearly reached mortal enmity. They had fought publicly three times, each battle ending in mutual grievous injuries before they stopped. Private sparring? Countless.

Given their history, if Wei Yuan entered Feng Chutang’s class, it would be miraculous if he didn’t lose a layer of skin.

Yet Zhang Sheng said: “We’ll go.”

“What?” The Daoist could hardly believe his ears.

“We’ll enroll in centralized instruction!”

“But… Brother Feng…”

Zhang Sheng snorted. “If he dares teach, we dare learn! Would he dare mistreat a junior? At worst, he’ll assign more homework. Wei Yuan—do you fear hardship?”

Zhang Sheng had asked this before. Three years ago, it was Wei Youcai who answered. Now, Wei Yuan answered himself: “People from our village fear nothing more than hardship.”

Zhang Sheng said: “Good. Register us.”

The Daoist stared, then sighed. “Then please pay the course fee.”

Zhang Sheng’s face froze. “I just returned to the palace—I don’t carry immortal silver on me. Wait a moment—I’ll go to my cave and fetch it.”

The Daoist said, “No problem. I’ll wait here.”

After Zhang Sheng left the courtyard, the Daoist looked at Wei Yuan and said, “Your master will be gone for a while. Since you have time, let me tell you the origins of Tai Chu Palace—it’s part of the General Knowledge of the Immortal Path course.”

(End of Chapter)